Easter Proclamation

 

 

Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

for you are the beginning and end of all time.

You are the Alpha and Omega,

for all time belongs to you.

To you be praise and glory for ever.

By your holy and glorious wounds,

guard us and keep us safe from all evil.

May your light ever shine before us

to keep us on the way of salvation,

to bring us rejoicing into the eternal city of light.

To you be praise and glory for ever and ever.

Risen Lord

 

 

Risen Lord, come and reveal yourself to us,

in the upper room of all our fears.

May we hear afresh your words of peace.

Come and join us on the seashore of our busy distracted lives,

with the gift of hope and a new way forward.

Bring us to the mountain of your holy presence,

and breathe your creative spirit upon us.

Extend your hands of blessing over us

so that we may live always in the power of your life-giving Spirit

and so daily witness to the reality of your Risen life

in our world today.

 

by C. S.

Seeing and Believing

 

 

Although we believe without seeing,

we rely on the faithful witness of those who saw and believed.

All this was recorded so that you might come to believe.

 

Let us not underestimate the importance of those early witnesses -

seeing, hearing, touching the Lord;

and then seeking to share the good news through carefully recounting

the treasured words and actions of the Master.

May we always give thanks for those

who recorded so carefully the words and deeds passed on to them;

that we might read and believe.

 

For we are part of the company who will never see the empty tomb,

never hear the voice, never touch the wounds,

whilst our feet still are on earthy ground.

But we believe that one day much more will be given…

In the meantime we live by faith,

but we know in our mind and in our heart -

from our deepest self, that the Lord is here

and that his promised Spirit is with us.

In a powerful word from the Gospel,

in the faithful breaking of the bread,

in the round of daily life,

in a word or action of someone we meet,

in the silence of waiting on God,

in the healing of wounds,

in facing the death of those we love,

in reflecting positively on our own death.

 

Meanwhile, we rejoice in the treasured beatitude

held out to us by our Risen Lord:

Blessed are those who have not seen

and yet have come to believe.

 

It is the first day of the week

and alleluia is our endless song.

 

 

C.S. -  Inspired by a Biblical reflection by Andre Louf

By His wounds we are being healed

 

 

No sooner has the Risen Christ

brought his greeting of peace

to the fearful and confused disciples

than he shows them his wounds.

 

Why do the resurrection appearances focus so much on his wounds?

Because the Risen Christ is one with the Crucified Christ.

The stations of the cross and the crucifixes remain  

in our churches – though now surrounded by candles

and the smell of spring flowers and possibly incense.

The victory of the cross is forever proclaimed in the Easter Gospel,

for the Risen Lord is still deeply moved by wounded humanity.

 

If Jesus’ wounds were like the patient leaving hospital,

then the Resurrection would only comfort us

in the world to come and we would be alone

with the pain or suffering life brings us.

The Risen Jesus seeks to transform our wounds.

Jesus sends his disciples out and most of them will know a martyr’s death.

They can embrace any rejection in proclaiming the truth

because they have seen and been healed by the wounds of Christ.

 

We can hide in our upper rooms

but all over the world many thousands of followers

take the risk of being hurt or rejected.

Will we venture out?

Courage is not the absence of fear but refusing to be enslaved by fear.

We can be sent out to forgive rather than be embittered or nurse our wounds.

We can continue to show compassion even when any gratitude is never offered.

We can  live by the teaching of Christ,

when society around us lives by very different standards

- and it is so much easier to go with the flow.

 

The risen Christ comes to us and says, Peace,

and shows us his wounds - the source of our healing.

The grace of the Resurrection is not a magic wand that banishes all evil,

but a wonderful mysterious force

that is capable of  transforming everything - even death.

For the wounds of Christ remain in his body, so that we

might be healed and share in that healing work of Christ,

so that we might be sent out as witnesses of these things,

to help bring about a changed world that knows the peace of Christ

and the vitality of new creative life.

 

 

C.S. -  Based on the teaching of a Carthusian & Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP

A New Creation in Christ

 

 

Our first creation was only Act 1,

  a prelude to the new creation in Christ.

Each time a new person comes into being

  there is a new way for Christ to be expressed in the world.

We each have the responsibility

  to develop this new creation.

 

As Christ was transfigured both on the mountain

  and in his Risen Body;

so our everyday selves

  can be exposed to the transfiguring glory of God.

To pray before the Light of Christ

  is to seek the mind (the will) of the Risen Christ

for us, for our church and for the world.

 

As we begin to live that prayer

  our weary bodies, our wavering minds

with all our limitations, our disappointments,

  even our terrible mistakes,

together with our moments of vision,

  our faithful loving surrender,

are brought together by the ongoing saving activity

  of the one we call Saviour.

 

When Jesus places his hands on blind eyes and deaf ear,

  When Jesus heals through words of forgiveness,

God is at work, not patching up the old creation

  but bringing in the new.

The Passion of Christ gives birth to Salvation

  The Resurrection of the Christ - 

                              the joyous celebration of our new birth.

 

The Risen Christ now comes to us

  greets us -  shows us his wounds made glorious

and breathes the Spirit of God into our lives

  and we receive new life -

not a patched up old life or cheap recycled grace,

  but grace that amazes because it is a new creation.

New grace to fulfil new responsibilities,

  and the well of this life will never dry up.

It is an uncontrollable fountain

  welling up to eternal life Now!

 

 

C.S.